If Warren Buffett is right that volatility is a gift for active investors, the past couple of weeks should have been a bonanza. The spread of the coronavirus and the outbreak of an oil price war have brought gyrations not seen since the financial crisis.

According to Keith Skeoch, chief executive of Standard Life Aberdeen, this is the time for active managers to show that, compared with index funds, they really can add value. The managers of the firm’s once giant Gars fund have done just that, delivering absolute returns ahead of its benchmark, he declared.